Magnum Entertainment

Background

Magnum Entertainment was an offshoot of porn outfit VCA Pictures established by VCA co-founder Walter Gernert after selling his stock in VCA to his former partner, Russ Hampshire. The company had two sub labels: Sagebrush Productions for Westerns such as Django, and Epic Pictures for adaptations of literary classics such as The Weather in the Streets.

Logo (1985-1993)

Visuals: On a background of two sets of moving purple lines, a bright flash appears and the word "MAGNUM", in light blue with a Persian blue stripe in the middle and in a slightly thinner "Frankfurter" font, zooms-in. Meanwhile, the word "Entertainment" in a shocking pink cursive font (with the bottom line of the first "E" extended out) zooms-out underneath "MAGNUM". The word "Entertainment" would later shine and shine again a second later.

Variant: On some tapes that had previews, the words "COMING SOON" would appear before the coming attraction.

Technique: Early CGI.

Audio: After some loud kettledrum beats, there is a triumphant synthesized trumpet/accordion fanfare, slightly similar to the one used in King World's "Spotlights" and Camelot Entertainment Sales logos.

Availability: Found on VHS releases of Witchtrap, Nail Gun Massacre, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Drive-In Massacre, Lucio Fulci's Zombie (a.k.a. Zombi 2), The Thorn, Mindfield, Night Terror, and Bad Taste, among others. Some Starmaker reissues of Magnum titles, such as The Hills Have Eyes and White Fang and the Hunter (originally released by Magnum sublabel Sagebrush Productions), preserve this logo after the opening Starmaker logo.